Blizzard expected to knock out power to as many as 120,000 in Connecticut.

Snow and high winds are expected to knock out electricity to as many as 120,000 homes and businesses in the next day or two, although cold conditions could result in drier, lighter flakes than those that fell over the weekend.

Both power companies that maintain transmission lines in the state, Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating, are considering the storm a "Level 1," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at a media conference early Monday. That is the lowest category of storm, and it means that the storm would affect 100,000 to 110,000 CL&P customers and 10,000 United Illuminating customers.

Storms are measured by the power companies in levels, which largely is a metric of how long it will take to restore electricity to all customers. In this case, power could be restored in between one and three days, said Connecticut Light & Power spokesman Mitch Gross. A "Level 5" event — the worst — is a storm or other hazard that affects the state's entire electrical grid.

It's not clear if the winds will be 35 mph, 45 mph or 65 mph. "We're preparing for 60 [mph] along the coast," Malloy said.

Power outages could last for several days, Malloy said.

High winds could prevent power-line workers from restoring power during the storm, Gross said.

"The winds may determine a great deal," Gross said. "Understand, if the winds get above 35, 40 mph, it's usually unsafe for the crews to raise the buckets to go to work. So, they may have to wait, and that has happened before."

United Illuminating spokesman Michael West said, "We're watching to see what those winds will or will not do …"

West said that the lighter snow, a result of colder temperatures, helps because it doesn't weigh down power lines the way heavy snow or ice does.

Malloy said that utility crews are coming from as far away as Ontario, Canada.

Gross said in a phone interview that CL&P has crews staged in all parts of the state, not concentrated in one area. He said that there was no way to classify which regions, or which types of customers, were most prone to a power failure. For example, it's not fair to assume that most of the power outages will be in the southeastern corner of the state, where the wind is expected to be fiercest, Gross said.

"It depends on the track of the storm, and the speed of the wind, all of those variables," he said.

CL&P has about 400 line workers in the state, ready to go to work, not including tree trimmers and support crews operating in CL&P offices, Gross said.

CL&P first restores power to essential services: police, fire and hospitals, for example. The company then works to restore power to the greatest number of customers at a time, meaning that cities and towns take priority.

CL&P transmits electricity to most of the state — 1.2 million customers in 149 towns. United Illuminating has about 700,000 customers, primarily in Greater New Haven and Greater Bridgeport.